HARTFORD IX 13
Ship Name and Designation History
This section lists the names and designations that the ship had during its lifetime. The list is in chronological order.
- Screw Sloop-of-War
- USS HARTFORD
Commissioned May 27 1859 - Decommissioned December 13 1864
Recommissioned July 1865 - Decommissioned 1868
Recommissioned October 9 1872 - Decommissioned January 14 1887
Recommissioned October 2 1899
- USS HARTFORD IX-13
Designated Miscellaneous Unclassified (IX) July 17 1920
Decommissioned August 20 1926
Moved to Washington D.C. Navy Yard October 18 1938
Towed to Norfolk Navy Yard October 19 1945
Reclassified as relic
Sank at her berth November 20 1956
Keel Laid December 9 1857 - Launched November 22 1858
This section lists active links to the pages displaying covers associated with the ship. There should be a separate set of pages for each incarnation of the ship (ie, for each entry in the "Ship Name and Designation History" section). Covers should be presented in chronological order (or as best as can be determined).
Since a ship may have many covers, they may be split among many pages so it doesn't take forever for the pages to load. Each page link should be accompanied by a date range for covers on that page.
- Covers Page 1 (1911-14)
Postmarks
This section lists examples of the postmarks used by the ship. There should be a separate set of postmarks for each incarnation of the ship (ie, for each entry in the "Ship Name and Designation History" section). Within each set, the postmarks should be listed in order of their classification type. If more than one postmark has the same classification, then they should be further sorted by date of earliest known usage.
A postmark should not be included unless accompanied by a close-up image and/or an
image of a cover showing that postmark. Date ranges MUST be based ONLY ON COVERS IN
THE MUSEUM and are expected to change as more covers are added.
>>> If you have a better example for any of the postmarks, please feel free to replace the
existing example.
|
Postmark Type |
Date From to Date To |
Thumbnail Link To Postmark Image |
Thumbnail Link To Cover Image |
|---|
|
Picture Postcard |
Unused |
 |
No Image |
U.S. TRAINING SHIP "HARTFORD" DISPLACEMENT 2700 TONS
LENGTH 226 FEET MAIN BATTERY 9 GUNS
1st Commissioning May 27 1859 to December 13 1864
|
Unpostmarked |
c1863 |
 |
 |
Mail from HARTFORD to USS KATAHDIN
3rd Commissioning October 9 1872 to January 14 1887
|
Old Point Comfort VA |
1877-02-03 |
 |
N/A |
Printed corner card "U.S. Flagship Hartford". Courtesy of the Jim Myerson collection.
|
Old Point Comfort VA |
1877-06-05 |
 |
N/A |
Printed corner card "U.S. Flagship Hartford". Ship's marking enhanced for better viewing. Courtesy of the Jim Myerson collection.
|
Old Point Comfort VA |
1877-06-09 |
 |
 |
Printed corner card mailed from Old Point Comfort, VA
Back...carrier 06-11
|
Old Point Comfort VA |
1877-06-11 |
 |
 |
Printed corner card mailed from Old Point Comfort, VA
Back...carrier 06-12
|
Portsmouth VA |
1877-09-26 |
 |
No Image |
Printed corner card mailed from Portsmouth, Va. No year date in the cancel, although the 3-cent Banknote stamp tells us probably in the 1870s. Fortunately it's docketed (writing on the face about when received, or the contents): "Received Wednesday Afternoon Sept. 26th, 1877."
|
Postage due |
1878-04-09 |
 |
 |
Mail collect 32 cents
Back...London BC 04-09, New York 04-20
|
US Charge / |
1878-05-14 |
 |
 |
Ship's marking enhanced for better viewing. Courtesy of the Jim Myerson collection.
|
Newport R.I. |
1882-12-14 |
 |
 |
Back...New York 12-20, Valparaiso Chile 01-22, Callao Chile 03-14
|
Brooklyn NY |
1884-04-03 |
 |
No Image |
Mail to the ship from Brooklyn, Apr. 3, 1884, addressed to the ship at the Navy Pay Office, San Francisco and readdressed to Mare Island. Backstamped San Francisco Apr. 9 and Vallejo Apr. 10.
|
Brooklyn NY |
1884-04-16 |
 |
No Image |
Incoming mail to the ship from Brooklyn, Apr. 16, 1884, addressed to Chief Engineer John W. Moore and readdressed to Mare Island.
4th Commissioning October 2 1899 to August 20 1926
|
Port of Spain Trinidad |
1900-12-06 |
 |
No Image |
Mail from the crew.
|
Locy Type |
1911-12-06 |
 |
 |
Christmas picture postcard
|
Locy Type |
1911-12-06 |
 |
|
Christmas picture postcard
|
Locy Type |
1914-12-20 |
 |
 |
Note:
|
Locy Type |
1916-05-09 |
 |
 |
Picture postcard from Charleston, SC
|
Locy Type |
1916-05-09 |
 |
|
Picture postcard from Charleston, SC
Other Information
NAMESAKE - Named for the city of Hartford, Connecticut.
Historical Note - After she sank at her berth, raising and repairing her was out of the question, but they did salvage a lot. Her wheel and rail are in the Washington Navy Yard museum, her bell (minus the clapper) hangs in downtown Hartford, while her figurehead is in the state capitol. One of her anchors is at the entrance to the University of Hartford, while the other is at the entrance to Mystic Seaport.
If you have images or information to add to this page, then either contact the Curator or edit this page yourself and add it. See Editing Ship Pages for detailed information on editing this page.
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